Cody Rhodes Shares Blunt Take on a Major Issue With Today’s Wrestlers

Cody Rhodes believes this generation of wrestlers needs to develop thicker skin when dealing with fan comments.

The American Nightmare's tenure in AEW didn't exactly go according to plan. As one of the founding fathers, he was eventually turned on by the fanbase of the company he helped create. Rhodes would eventually depart and return to WWE at WrestleMania 38.

While the reaction from the WWE Universe was incredibly positive for the first several years, things are slowly starting to turn against Rhodes, and his reaction is much more mixed than it has been. Despite that, Rhodes appears unbothered and believes that wrestlers in general need to stop being so sensitive to fans' comments.

Rhodes was a recent guest on Mostly Sports. When asked what his favorite episode of Parks and Recreation was, Rhodes took the opportunity to pivot into a rant about wrestlers today being too sensitive.

"I have a Parks and Rec episode that is literally an episode we use in the Nightmare Factory to teach," Rhodes said. "It's the episode where she's running for office, and the guy doesn't want to vote for her. What I tell people? They aren't all gonna like you, right? You gotta get over it. So when you're doing that doom vanity search, no matter what you do and the thing wrestlers, the mistake they make, oh, I followed him. I can turn him. No, they don't want you. They don't like you. That's okay.

"We all of a sudden have gotten so sensitive to what fans say. Outside of moral and ethical craziness, you buy a ticket, there's no code of conduct. You can tell somebody they suck, you can tell somebody they're fat. It doesn't matter. You should hear the stuff that's being yelled at me in the ring in the middle of trying to give a heartfelt speech about Terry Funk or something like that. It's a fun event for fans to blow off steam. I know that's a controversial take."

Is Cody Rhodes preparing himself for what's to come at WWE Elimination Chamber?

Rhodes would go on to reveal what every wrestler in the industry currently does after their segment airs on TV: check the reactions on social media.

"Here's what every wrestler does. Their segment airs, they go check their phone, every wrestler does it," Cody Rhodes admits. "They see the things that people didn't like, they don't see the six that were like, Oh, that was great. That was awesome. It's like Yelp. I ain't going on there to write a good review."

For someone who believes wrestlers today are too sensitive, Rhodes has spent a surprising amount of time discussing fan reactions towards him as of late. With a Chicago crowd looming tomorrow at WWE Elimination Chamber, is The American Nightmare already bracing for the worst?

Rhodes is one of six men stepping into the Men's Chamber match on Saturday night to earn the right to challenge Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42. While Rhodes' spot in the match with McIntyre is pretty much locked into place in fans' minds heading into tomorrow, the last thing many of them want to see is The American Nightmare winning inside the Chamber.

With Randy Orton recently being cost a match against Aleister Black on SmackDown due to Drew McIntyre's interference, perhaps it's time WWE throws out another curveball on the road to WrestleMania 42 and puts Orton over on Saturday night.

It's clear to fans that Rhodes will find himself in the title match regardless. For all we know, Jacob Fatu and Sami Zayn could somehow find themselves in the match as well. So for Cody's long-term future as a babyface in WWE, perhaps he shouldn't win inside the Chamber this weekend.